The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters have recommended action to Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing as these activities have negative impacts to the health of marine ecosystems. The discussion was part of the Port State Measures Support Project Workshop that started on 09 November 2022. 

The three-day event seeks to review legal Fisheries regulations, initiate dialogue and forge strong partnerships among stakeholders in the fisheries sector in combatting IUU fishing activities in The Gambia. 

“IUU leads to the loss of social and economic opportunities and has negative impacts on the livelihoods of legitimate fishers and coastal communities around the globe, particularly in coastal developing countries like The Gambia,” Dr. Mustapha Ceesay, Assistant FAO Representative in charge of programs said, speaking on behalf of the FAO Representative. 

“Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing undermines sustainable fisheries by rendering futile international Conservation and Management Measures (CMMs) that are adopted and implemented at the national level.” 

Dr. Ceesay reminded participants of an FAO team which visited The Gambia in June 2022 to guide national authorities through a needs (gap) assessment exercise within the framework of the German-funded and FAO-implemented project entitled “Port State Measures Support Project” (GCP/GLO/1047/GER.) The exercise, he said, was a success as it highlighted various challenges that needed to be addressed by a series of follow-up activities.

“This resulted in the development of a National Strategy and Action Plan for The Gambia, which was facilitated by FAO and submitted to The Gambian authorities for consideration in September 2022. Authorities must cooperate, coordinate and exchange information in real-time to ensure that the country’s responsibilities as a flag State, a coastal State, a Port State and a market State are fully met and the requirements of all international agreements to which it is a Party, are fully implemented.” 

The Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries, Fanta Bojang, noted that the workshop is valuable and timely for her ministry.

 “The legal review of the Fisheries act and the fisheries regulation will identify the policy framework in place to prevent IUU fishing and propose recommendations based on best international practices.’’ 

Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (PSMA) was formed in 2009 as the first binding international agreement on this theme. The Gambia acceded to the agreement in 2016, thus becoming a party. 

The in-depth legal mission will review the fisheries and related legislation for implementing the PSMA, complementary international instruments and regional mechanisms to combat IUU fishing and existing responsibilities as a port, flag, coastal and market State to identify policies to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing. 

The mission will also aim to produce a technical report of the review of fisheries and related legislation in The Gambia while assessing the current level of information sharing and cooperation in the thematic area and a list of recommended follow-up support activities, including training. 

Background

The Gambia has an Atlantic Ocean coastline of 80km and a highly productive marine ecosystem due to nutrient introduction from The Gambia River. This natural endowment has been threatened by IUU fishing. Hence the need for a deterrent in place. In the context of capacity development towards implementation, The Gambia was designated as a beneficiary in January 2022 of the capacity development “PSMA Project” (GCP/GLO/1047/GER) funded by Germany. This project agreement was signed on 30 March 2022 between The Gambia Government and FAO.